Why We Fly

Fulfilling dreams one flight at a time

For any pilot who's had his or her wings clipped--whether for medical, financial, or other reasons--there's always that longing to get back in the air. Francis Hoopes was no exception.

Hoopes, who flew a Piper Tri-Pacer, had suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair, and he never dreamed that he would be able to take the controls of an aircraft again. As part of the Forget-Me-Not Program through the Oregon Health Care Foundation, Hoopes' last wish was to fly.

Bob Bement, 72, of Vale, Oregon, fulfilled that dream.

"Francis couldn't talk well, but he let me know with his eyes and laugh that he enjoyed [the flight]," said Bement, who flew about 300 miles one way from Vale to Troutdale to take Hoopes aloft. "He was just thrilled to get back up in the air."

Bement controlled the rudder pedals of his 1959 Cessna 182 while Hoopes operated the control wheel during the 15-minute flight from Troutdale to Cascade Locks.

"Well, I hope someday when I get where I can't fly anymore, somebody will give me a ride in an airplane," Bement told Hoopes while they were flying.

Hoopes received a video of the flight, which Bement says he showed to everyone who visited him. He died about a year after that flight, and the video played at his funeral. (To watch the video of the flight, search "His last wish an airplane ride" on YouTube.com.)

This is only one of the many lives Bement has touched using his Cessna 182. Bement, a retired teacher and the manager of Miller Memorial Airport--a gravel strip in Vale, Oregon--also uses his airplane to fly reporters, raise money for a good cause, and help with search-and-rescue missions.

Because he has one of the only airplanes in Vale that can take others on search-and-rescue missions, he volunteers the air support for the four to five calls in the area each year. Helping law enforcement isn't anything new for Bement. He was a member of the Malheur County Sheriff's Posse for more than a decade, and was the chief from 1977 to 1978.

"I'm trying to do everything I can to promote general aviation," Bement said, explaining that the public needs to know pilots "aren't a bunch of 'rich guys flying around.' Everybody's gotta do their share."

Bement lives by the philosophy of Gail S. Halvorson, the U.S. pilot known as Uncle Wiggly Wings or the Berlin Candy Bomber during the Berlin Airlift: Do good things for others, expect nothing in return, and good things will happen. (Bement had the privilege of flying Halvorson around the backcountry of Idaho.)

His current focus is raising money for a new senior citizens/community center. During the past three years, he's raised $9,000 from annual fly-ins by giving 15-minute flights at $20 a seat in his Cessna 182.

He and his wife, Essie, also gave flights to raise money for a Vale woman who was battling cancer and her young family. He paid for the fuel and was able to donate $750 to help with the doctors' bills.

Boy Scouts have worked toward their aviation merit badges with Bement--one group picked up trash at the Owyhee Reservoir backcountry airstrip.

These represent just of few of the stories filling Bement's logbook. He's racked up 2,100 hours of flight time since he earned a private pilot certificate in 1980. And he's accumulated 1,300 of those in his faithful Cessna 182 that he spent three years restoring to flying condition.

That leaves hundreds of stories untold, known only to Bement and those he's touched, and hundreds more waiting to happen as he continues his mission to promote general aviation.

Alyssa J. Miller is an associate editor for AOPA's electronic publications.